A solution for gardeners fighting nutsedge

SHREVEPORT, La. - As summer heats up, so does an unwelcome visitor in garden beds across the region: Nutsedge, also known as nut grass. 

Common in the Shreveport area and beyond, nutsedge is not your average weed. What many gardeners don’t know is that it spreads through a hidden underground system of tubers—long root-like structures that make it especially difficult to remove. It is part of the rhizome family.

Most nutsedge is less than 10 inches deep in the soil although it can reportedly go as deep at 18 inches. This depth makes it extremely heat tolerant. If you pull it, as you do most weeds, you can actually stimulate the nutlets to produce more sprouts.

One of the products deemed most effective at controlling nutsedge is Sedgehammer. You spray it on the weeds, and then watch them slowly die. Sometimes it takes a couple of applications.

Be patient, as it may take a couple of weeks, but usually it works.